Golf club head and method for manufacturing the golf club head

ABSTRACT

A composite golf club head includes a light-weight alloy strike plate, a composite material body, a metal sole plate and a balance weight. The strike plate has a rear, and a rim is formed around the rear to form a hollow cup-like body. The body is bonded to the rim and is composed of a crown and a sole made of fiber prepreg material. A sole plate made of metal is mounted in the sole, and has a seat formed in the sole plate and a hole defined through the seat. A balance weight is mounted in the hole.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a golf club head, and more particularlyto a golf club head made of composite materials and a manufacturingmethod for the golf club head.

2. Description of Related Art

Conventional golf club heads generally have two types of structure andmanufacturing methods. The first type of golf club head is made of metaland is integrally formed by casting, or is composed of multiple forgedmembers welded together. The other type of golf club head is made ofcomposite materials and is composed of a molded body including afaceplate, a shank and a sole plate and a fiber crown attached to thebody.

However, the metal golf club head fabricated by means of casting orforging has some shortcomings, such as being time-consuming tomanufacture, difficult to position the center of gravity, and having asmall size.

With reference to FIG. 6, a conventional composite golf club head has ahollow body (6) and a cover (63). The hollow body (6) is made of metaland is composed of a strike plate (60), a shank (61) and a sole (62).The strike plate (60) has a sweet spot (not shown) covering a specificarea, and the sole (62) is enlarged to increase the area covered by thesweet spot. However, increasing the sweet spot significantly may causethe weight of the golf club head to exceed allowable golf club headstandards.

The cover (63) is made of a fiber prepreg (pre-impregnated) materialbonded directly to the strike plate (60) and will repeatedly besubjected to a great impact force from the strike plate (60). After aperiod of such treatment, cracks may develop in the golf head at thejoint between the cover (63) and the strike plate (60). Therefore,multiple reinforcing layers and strips must be fabricated inside andoutside the golf club head to protect weak spots, so manufacturing thegolf club head is very inconvenient.

Therefore, the invention provides a composite golf club head to mitigateor obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a compositegolf club head that can absorb a strike force on a strike plate, has anenlarged sweet spot on the strike plate and is easy to manufacture.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method tomanufacture the composite golf club head as described above.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a golf club head in accordancewith the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a manufacturing process for the golf clubhead in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional side plan view of the golf club head in FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional side plan view of the golf club head in FIG.1 positioned in a hot-press mold;

FIG. 5 is an operational cross sectional side plan view of the golf clubhead in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional composite golf club head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIG. 1, a golf club head in accordance with thepresent invention is composed of a strike plate (10), a body (20), asole plate (30) and a balance weight (33).

The strike plate (10) is made up of a light-weight alloy, has a front(not numbered), a rear (not numbered), a heel (not numbered), a toe (notnumbered), a shank (11) and a rim (12). The shank (11) is formed at theheel of the strike plate (10), and the rim (12) is formed around therear of the strike plate (10) to form a hollow cup-like body (notnumbered).

The body (20) is bonded to the rim (12) and is composed of a crown (21)and a sole (22) bonded together. The crown (21) and the sole (22) aremade of multiple layers of fiber prepreg (pre-impregnated) material suchas carbon fiber, glass fiber, Kevlar™ fiber, boron fiber, titaniumfiber, copper fiber, aluminum fiber, etc. impregnated with resinpreviously. The sole (22) has an opening (23).

The sole plate (30) is metal, is mounted in the opening (23) and has aseat (31). A hole (32) is defined through the seat (31).

The balance weight (33) is mounted in the hole (32).

With reference to FIGS. 2-5, a process to manufacture the golf club headincludes the steps of preparing the individual elements (A), pressingprepreg materials (B), assembling the golf club head (C), shaping thegolf club head (D), curing the prepreg materials (E), removing the golfclub head from the die (50) (F) and finishing the golf club head (G).

Preparing the individual elements (A) comprises casting or forging thestrike plate (10) with the shank (11), the sole plate (30) and thebalance weight (33), cutting and bonding the prepreg material based onthe profiles of the crown (21) and the sole (22) and preparing adhesivesheets (34) and an air bladder (40).

Pressing prepreg material (B) comprises pressing the prepreg materialpieces in corresponding dies (not shown) to form the crown (21) and thesole (22).

Assembling the golf club head (C) comprises attaching the strike plate(10), the crown (21), the sole (22) and the sole plate (30) to eachother by the adhesive sheets (34) to form the golf head with an innercavity (not numbered), and inserting the air bladder (40) into thecavity through the hole (32) in the golf head with a nozzle (notnumbered) that extends out of the hole (32).

Shaping the golf club head (D) comprises pumping air into the airbladder (40) to pre-shape the golf club head.

Curing the prepreg materials (E) comprises heating, pressing and blowingthe pre-shaped golf club head in a hot-press molding die (50) to curethe prepreg materials of the body (20). The adhesive sheets (34) arepressed by the air bladder (40) to tightly abut the inside wall of thegolf head.

Removing the golf club head from the die (50) (F) comprises removing thecured golf club head from the hot-press molding die (50), and the airbladder (40) from the cavity in the golf club head through the hole(32).

Finishing the golf club head (G) comprises finishing the golf club head,installing the balance weight (33) in the hole (32) in the sole plate(30) and painting the golf club head.

The invention has the following advantages.

-   -   1. The strike plate (10) has a rim (12) to absorb the impact        force, so only a small force is transmitted to the body (20)        made of the fiber prepreg material, and a user can easily handle        the golf club head.    -   2. Because the strike plate (10) is made of a light-weight alloy        and is separated from the sole plate (30), an area of the strike        plate (10) can be increased moderately to enlarge the sweet spot        without increasing the sole plate (30), and the golf club head        weight can be kept under the standard weight.    -   3. Manufacturing the body (20) of the fiber prepreg material by        means of the automatic pressing procedure is very easy.    -   4. Balancing the center of gravity by installing a balance        weight (33) in the golf club head is simple.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and function of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

1. A composite golf club head comprising: a strike plate made of alight-weight alloy, having a front, a rear, a toe, a heel, a shankformed at the heel of the strike plate, and a rim formed around the rearof the strike plate to form a hollow cup-like body; a body bonded to therim and being composed of a crown and a sole made of fiber prepregmaterial; a sole plate made of metal, mounted in the sole and having aseat formed in the sole plate and a hole defined through the seat; and abalance weight mounted in the hole.
 2. The composite golf club head asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the fiber prepreg material is carbon fiberimpregnated with resin.
 3. The composite golf club head as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the fiber prepreg material is glass fiber impregnatedwith resin.
 4. The composite golf club head as claimed in claim 1,wherein the fiber prepreg material is Kevlar™ fiber impregnated withresin.
 5. The composite golf club head as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe fiber prepreg material is boron fiber impregnated with resin.
 6. Thecomposite golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fiberprepreg material is titanium fiber impregnated with resin.
 7. Thecomposite golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fiberprepreg material is copper fiber impregnated with resin.
 8. Thecomposite golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fiberprepreg material is aluminum fiber impregnated with resin.
 9. Thecomposite golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein an opening isdefined through the sole, and the sole plate is mounted in the opening.10. A method for manufacturing a golf club head as claimed in claim 1comprising steps of: preparing the individual elements comprisingcasting or forging the strike plate with the shank, the sole plate andthe balance weight; cutting and bonding the fiber prepreg material basedon the profiles of the crown and the sole; and preparing adhesive sheetsand an air bladder; pressing prepreg material comprising pressing thefiber prepreg material pieces in corresponding dies to form the crownand the sole; assembling the golf club head comprising attaching thestrike plate, the crown, the sole and the sole plate together by theadhesive sheets; and inserting the air bladder through the hole in thegolf head with a nozzle extending out of from the hole; shaping the golfclub head comprises pumping air into the air bladder to pre-shape thegolf club head; curing the prepreg materials comprising heating,pressing and blowing the pre-shaped golf club head in a hot-pressmolding die to cure the fiber prepreg materials of the body; and the airbladder pressing the adhesive sheets to tightly abut the inside wall ofthe golf head; removing the golf club head from the die comprisesremoving the cured golf club head from the hot-press molding die, andremoving the air bladder through the hole from the golf club head; andfinishing the golf club head comprising finishing the golf club head,installing the balance weight in the hole in the sole plate and paintingthe golf club head.